East's Wenzel selected as girls all-area MVP

Victoria East's Adelaide Wenzel goes up for a shot but gets fouled by Vista Ridge's Charisma Alexander, right, during Friday night's Region IV-4A girls basketball semi-final game at Littleton Gym at the Blossom Athletic Center in San Antonio. ANGELI WRIGHT/AWRIGHT@VICAD.COM

Shooting has always been Adelaide Wenzel's bread and butter. She could make a living draining 3-pointers all night long.

But it was the new element she worked to add to her offensive game in 2010-2011 that made her a offensive threat to be reckoned with for Victoria East.

"I started to drive more," said the junior guard for the Titans. "Last year, not so much, because we always had Krysta (Martinez) inside."

Wenzel's offense helped guide the Titans to a 22-10 record and an appearance in the Region IV-4A tournament in their first year as a program. For that achievement, the junior guard was named the Victoria Advocate's 2011 all-area girls MVP.

She averaged 15.6 points per game, and often was able to score more when her team needed her most.

But Wenzel points out that you don't have her success without her teammates - guards Danielle Franklin, Bre Williams, Shanice Hughes, Marquet Dean, and posts Ramaya Dean, Ashley Strelec and Kenya Griffin - who helped her achieve what she did.

"If I wasn't open, I would just get a screen and drive, and dish off if I needed to," she said. "My teammates always read my defense, and helped me get open, which led to them getting open too."

And a big part of it was atmosphere. No one dogged her for having a poor shooting night, and she was able to work through her woes or help others achieve when she was having a poor night from the field.

"My thing is shooting, but sometimes, you just can't make it for some reason," Wenzel said. "No one ever got mad at you for not playing well. They weren't like 'Oh, Adelaide's not scoring, let's not give her the ball,' or that kind of thing. They were always telling me to keep at it."

The whole team benefited from the tutelage of Titans coach Yulonda Wimbish-North, who Wenzel said helped her stay focused on the other side of the game.